Erasing attachment for type-writing machines



No 6|3,50|. Patented Nov. I, I898. J. H. DICKINSON.

ERASING ATTACHMENT FOR TYPE WRITING MACHINES.

(Application filed Dec. 28, 1897.)

(No Model.)

FIQZ.

IN My MN h Wm U H. DI. E A? w VI B UNIT D STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH I-I. DICKINSON, OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALFTO THOMAS S. MILLER, OF SOUTH ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

ERASING ATTACHMENT FOR TYPE-WRITING MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters- Patent No. 613,501, datedNovember 1, 1898.

Application filed December 28,1897. Serial No. 663,920. (No model.) I

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOSEPH H. DICKINSON, a citizen of the United Statesof America, residing at New Orleans, Louisiana, have invented an ErasingAttachment for Type Writing Machines, of which the following is aspecification.

The object of my invention is to provide a type-writing machine with anattachment whereby errors in type-writing, more particularly' of singlecharacters, may be quickly corrected by erasure while the paper remainsin position on the machine.

In the drawings I have illustrated a typer5 writing machine of theRemington type-bar construction; but it will be understood that myinvention may be applied to various other constructions or styles oftype-writing machine.

The principal feature of my invention consists in the combination, withthe impression platen or roller, of an erasing device and means forbringing the two into operative conjunction that the impression of awrongly- 2 5 printed character or characters on the paper carried by theplaten can be quickly erased without raising the carriage, as iscommonly done.

The erasing device may be an india-rubber 0 one, a brush, or any othersuitable eraser. For convenience I prefer to make it in the form of adisk mounted upon a rotary shaft. The erasing device will, in theRemington and like machines, be mounted at a point just below butslightly forward of the platen that is, toward the operator-and justbeyond the forward edge of the inking-ribbon. To bring the platen anderasing device into operative relation when an erasure is to be made,various devices maybe employed, and either the platen may be movedtoward the erasing device or the erasing device may be moved up to theplaten. In the latter case it will be necessary, in the Remington and 5like machines, to move the inking-ribbon out of the way at the same timethat the erasing device is moved up to the platen.

The erasing device may receive its rotary or other erasing motion by anysuitable means,

either independently of or in conjunction with the means employed tobring the eraser and platen into operative relation to each other.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown my invention as embodied in aform in which the platen is to be moved up to the eraser, which has arotary disk mounted upon a shaft in fixed bearings. The erasingmoti0n-in this case rotary'is imparted to the eraser by meansindependentof the devices which bring the platen up to the eraser.

Figure l is a vertical section of sufficient of a type-writing machineto illustrate the application thereto of my invention. Fig. 2 is apla'n'view, and Figs. 3 and 4 are'separate views of details drawn to alarger scale.

In the drawings, A is the frame of the machine, which, as I have said,may be of any suitable construction, and B is the traveling carriage,which in this instance is shown as made in two parts one, b, travelingon the fixed guide-rail R, and the other, b, hinged by means of links I)to the part b, so as to be free to swing toward and from the operatorupon the movable guide-rail R. This movable guide-rail is carried on theupper end of hinged levers E, controlled by one or more shift-keys K,through a link or links is, to move the platen to change from lower-caseto up per-case, as usual. 86

In the illustrated application of my invention I provide for anadditional or further movement of the swinging carriage and platenforward toward the operator to bring the printing-line of the platenforward clear of the inking-ribbon and into operative relation to theeraser G. For this purpose I provide an additional arm or arms 6 on oneor both of the levers E, which carry the movable rail R. I connect sucharm or arms 6 by means of a 90 link or links it to a shift key or keysK, which when depressed will give the desired forward movement to themovable part of the carriage and the platen. I provide for normallyretaining the platen in the central position shown by full lines in Fig.l-that is, the lower-case position-by a spring-catch connection betweenthe levers E and the upper plate of the frame A. In the drawings I haveshown the spring-catches F as carried by the levers E and adapted toengage with notches f on the frame. The construction, however, is suchthat upon pressure being applied to one of the shift-keys thespring-latches will yield and allow the carriage to be moved either tothe back position for the upper-case or the forward position (shown bydotted lines in Fig 1) for erasing. Springs S and S are provided inconjunction with the levers E to tend to return the movable part of thecarriage and platen to the normal central posit-ion. (Shown by fulllines in Fig. l.)

The erasing device is shown in the drawings as in the form of a disk ofrubber G or with a rubber periphery mounted upon a spindle or shaft g,which in this case is shown as mounted in fixed bearings in the frameparallel with the axis of the platen. The spindle has preferably at eachend a pinion g, gearing into a toothed wheel 9 with a crank-handle bywhich rapid rotary motion may be imparted to the eraser. As shown inFig. 2, the eraser is preferably arranged just to the left of a linepassing from the front to the back through the printing-point, so thatthe character which has just been impressed upon the paper will beimmediately opposite the erasing-wheel and by a touch of the erasershift-key K the platen will be moved forward to bring that impressedcharacter over the erasing-wheel, and as the latter is rapidly rotatedit will erase the printed impression. A typographic error through thestriking of a wrong character can thus be quickly erased, and thecarriage can then be moved back in the ordinary manner to make thecorrect impression.

I claim as my invention 1. A type-writing machine provided with anerasing device adjacent to the platen, means whereby the two may bebrought into and out of operative relation, and means for impartingerasing motion to the said device, as and for the purpose described.

2. A type-writing machine having a. movable platen, an erasing device,and means whereby the platen may be moved over into operative relationto the erasing device, as and for the purpose described.

3. A type-writing machine having a platen and a rotary eraser adjacentthereto, in combination with a device for moving them into and out ofoperative relation to each other, and means independent of the saiddevice to rotate the eraser, substantially as described.

4. A type-writing machine having an erasing attachment, a movable platenand a shift key or keys for moving it into the upper and lower casepositions, an additional shift-key to move it forward with itsprinting-line beyond the edge of the inking-ribbon and into operativerelation with the eraser.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOSEPH II. DICKINSON.

Witnesses:

JOHN KEARNEY, WILLIAM C. MCLEOD.

